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Yes! I thought about this while reading Founders at Work. Beyond just the success/failure ratio, there's all the other details we don't get about failed start

by sah 19y ago

Yes! I thought about this while reading Founders at Work. Beyond just the success/failure ratio, there's all the other details we don't get about failed startups. Can you identify what went wrong by reading their story? Can you learn from their mistakes, or at least temper what you think you've learned from the successes with examples of how it doesn't always work out? I'd love to read another book like Founders at Work, but all about failed startups.

hooande 19y ago
That sounds like an interesting idea, but I'm thinking that the line between success and failure is composed of luck and interpersonal relationships. Most of the stories in FaW involve meeting a key person, an important external event or being in the right place at the right time. It's very hard for someone to say "Well if we had talked more with this one person, I think that we would have stumbled into a great situation a few years later" Likewise I've seen a lot of situations where personal relationships make the difference. Two founders disagree and one of them just has to be "right", even if there is evidence that their plan isn't best for the company. So maybe you can work out the characteristics of failed startups by looking at the inverse of the characteristics of successful startups. I'm thinking that they would be: don't be committed to the product, don't explore every relationship and don't have an open mind about new opportunities.
- parker 19y ago
  I would postulate that a funding or acquisition event depends on meeting a key person or having a key external event happen. Making something people want, however, is not dependant on any external event. It's really not just luck. If you get a lot of traction, the chance of those fortuitous things occurring simply increases.
  - pchristensen 19y ago
    I think millionaires are made. Billionaires (or hundred-millionaires) need luck.
davidw 19y ago
I think 'all failures' would be... kind of a downer, and wouldn't sell well either. I'd be very interested in reading interviews with people that succeeded after several failures, though.
byrneseyeview 19y ago
http://www.amazon.com/When-Giants-Stumble-Robert-Sobel/dp/0735200599 http://www.amazon.com/When-Giants-Stumble-Robert-Sobel/dp/07... Not startups (although some of them weren't in business very long), but this is definitely a good overview.
jgrahamc 19y ago
Next time you're in the same TZ as me, buy me a beer and I'll tell you about: 1. Going public 2. Doing a fire sale where almost everyone lost their jobs 3. Being acquired and hating the acquiring company 4. Starting a company that's just barely breaking even but still alive

by sah 19y ago

hooande 19y ago

That sounds like an interesting idea, but I'm thinking that the line between success and failure is composed of luck and interpersonal relationships. Most of the stories in FaW involve meeting a key person, an important external event or being in the right place at the right time. It's very hard for someone to say "Well if we had talked more with this one person, I think that we would have stumbled into a great situation a few years later" Likewise I've seen a lot of situations where personal relationships make the difference. Two founders disagree and one of them just has to be "right", even if there is evidence that their plan isn't best for the company. So maybe you can work out the characteristics of failed startups by looking at the inverse of the characteristics of successful startups. I'm thinking that they would be: don't be committed to the product, don't explore every relationship and don't have an open mind about new opportunities.

parker 19y ago
I would postulate that a funding or acquisition event depends on meeting a key person or having a key external event happen. Making something people want, however, is not dependant on any external event. It's really not just luck. If you get a lot of traction, the chance of those fortuitous things occurring simply increases.
- pchristensen 19y ago
  I think millionaires are made. Billionaires (or hundred-millionaires) need luck.

davidw 19y ago

I think 'all failures' would be... kind of a downer, and wouldn't sell well either. I'd be very interested in reading interviews with people that succeeded after several failures, though.

byrneseyeview 19y ago

http://www.amazon.com/When-Giants-Stumble-Robert-Sobel/dp/0735200599 http://www.amazon.com/When-Giants-Stumble-Robert-Sobel/dp/07... Not startups (although some of them weren't in business very long), but this is definitely a good overview.

jgrahamc 19y ago

Next time you're in the same TZ as me, buy me a beer and I'll tell you about: 1. Going public 2. Doing a fire sale where almost everyone lost their jobs 3. Being acquired and hating the acquiring company 4. Starting a company that's just barely breaking even but still alive